Key events
It’s Ephron Mason-Clark who connects with Van Ewijk’s deep cross, getting in front of his man and toe-poking into the bottom corner. Up in the gods in the North Stand, the away fans celebrate wildly!
GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Coventry (Mason-Clark 75′)
Coventry have their breakthrough at long last, and the tie is level on aggregate!
74 mins: Another floated Sakamoto cross from the right is cleared by O’Nien, and Bellingham gets involved to hack the ball away.
73 mins: Wright is played in but ends up too far wide to shoot, so holds up and then cuts it back for Eccles, whose well-struck shot is blocked.
72 mins: Here comes the Coventry-born Eccles, replacing Ben Sheaf in midfield after a Sunderland attacking move fizzles out.
70 mins: Coventry again get no joy from Sunderland’s back four, and the ball ends up back with Patterson.
69 mins: A first change for Coventry coming up, with Josh Eccles coming on. It’s been a scrappy, spiky last 10 minutes.
68 mins: Coventry deal with the next corner, but keeper Ben Wilson and Jobe Bellingham end up in a scuffle, Wilson accusing the Sunderland man of holding him down. Just calm down, everyone. Both players are eventually booked.
66 mins: Ooof! Le Fee’s cross is volleyed towards the near post by Trai Hume – but Wilson gets down to turn it behind. That’s probably the best chance Sunderland have made, certainly in the second half.
65 mins: A really smart touch from Patrick Roberts to set Mayenda away down the right. His cross is blocked behind for a corner, and he calls on the home fans to make some noise.
63 mins: Coventry push forward once more, but Wright slips in the area and the ball trundles out for a goal kick. Ballard is down after a collision with Thomas, but should be OK to continue.
62 mins: Grimes combines with Sakamoto, whose cross is cleared behind for a corner. Again, Patterson doesn’t claim it convincingly, but his defenders do enough.
61 mins: A rare quiet spell as everyone inside the Stadium of Light catches their breath.
59 mins: Ballard heads away to concede a corner, which is dealt with by Dan Neil at the near post. Some tired legs out there now – is either manager thinking about making changes?
58 mins: Sunderland finding a little space upfield now, and Roberts scuffs a shot wide after Isidor fails to connect with a cross.
56 mins: Coventry have 67% possession, and three times more touches in the Sunderland box than vice versa. All very well, but they need a goal.
55 mins: Sunderland know one goal could kill Coventry’s momentum, and they finally get upfield here. Hume’s cut-back leads to shouts for a penalty as Cirkin collides with Sakamoto. Not much in that, for me.
54 mins: Grimes’ ball in is another tester, cleared away by Bellingham. Sakamoto, who’s been great with his feet, then commits a second foul throw of the game.
52 mins: Plenty of nervous faces in the home crowd now, with Coventry looking the more threatening side now. Mason-Clark gets beyond Hume easily and is brought down on the corner of the area …
51 mins: Grimes sends the corner long to Sakamoto, whose shot is closed down. It rebounds to Van Ewijk, whose effort from 30 yards out flies wide. Coventry making a strong start to this second half, though.
50 mins: A lovely backheel from Da Silva creates space for Luke Kitching, who gets to the byline but sees his cut back blocked by Bellingham. Coventry corner …
49 mins: Haji Wright takes a heavy touch, then goes over under contact from Hume on the edge of the area. Nothing doing from the ref – the Coventry forward seemed to be exaggerating the contact.
48 mins: Van Ewijk gets forward to whip in a cross, but Patterson is able to claim it.
Did you know? These two sides have a long-standing beef, going back to the 70s when Sunderland were relegated at Cov’s expense.
Second half
We’re back under way. Coventry need a goal, or Sunderland will be off to Wembley.
“Are either of these teams worse than Manchester United?” asks Terry Nash. Maybe the question should be: could these teams beat United at their worst? The answer is yes.
Half time: Sunderland 0-0 Coventry (agg 2-1)
Coventry have reason to believe, having carved out a couple of clear chances – but it’s Sunderland who still hold the advantage, and they look capable of adding to it. It’s very much up for grabs. More soon.
47 mins: Mason-Clark tangles with Roberts and gets penalised, much to the Coventry man’s bemusement.
45 mins: There will be three added minutes.
44 mins: Another Coventry corner is cleared away, but it’s worked back to Dasilva, whose cross is headed down by Rudoni … but it rises over the bar! The referee had signalled for a push, in fact, so it wouldn’t have counted.
43 mins: Sakamoto puts in a cross which is cleared, and Sunderland threaten to break away – but Sakamoto himself gets back to deny Isidor. He’s been everywhere in this half.
41 mins: We resume, and Bellingham wins the ball in midfield before finding Le Fee, whose low cross is misdirected.
38 mins: Chance! This is probably the best chance for either side. Mason-Clark heads across goal and Rudoni gets to the bouncing ball ahead of Anthony Patterson, but prods his effort over the bar! The Sunderland keeper needs treatment after the players collide.
37 mins: Coventry counter again, Mason-Clark getting free down the left – but he tries to find Rudoni alongside him rather than cross, and Sunderland regroup.
36 mins: Jobe Bellingham passes forward to Dan Neil, who strides upfield but can’t find the killer pass.
